This episode carries content warnings for disorientation, mention of animal slaughter, and malformed animals.
The word went out to every worker on board the Jade Moon, and was passed to any passengers moving about the cabins: Stay inside. This was not the normal call to remain indoors during the ninth through eleventh days of the journey northward up the Ojan. No, this was something special. After all, as far as the captain and crew could tell, they weren't even on the Ojan anymore. This was somewhere else. This was Marrowcreek.
This week on Sangfielle: Marrow in the Field
The Almanac of the Heartland Rider
Places
Marrowcreek: Quite a ways west of Blackwick, the maps say there is a town called Marrowcreek. Never been myself, but I've heard about it (often in the sort of hypotheticals people pose to you to "make conversations" at parties.)
Vish: A small fishing village west across the mountains from Blackwick. Marn's hometown.
Blackwick County: From the mines to the lake, the hills to the flats, the town once called Eastern Folly has felt a little more expansive now that it's out of the hard grip of the old curse. It's people aren't perfect, but they've made it through some dark times, and that's more than most can say.
Zevunzolia: Who the hell knows. A miraculous city waiting to be built? A utopian dimension adjacent our own? "The Seventh Sun Itself," I think I heard one of those fools call it. All I know is, however prime and pristine it is in promise, the pricetag keeps going conveniently unmentioned...
Facts and Figures
Reuben (he/him): A kind and hard-working fisherman who's lived in Marrowcreek for a while now, per his own telling.
Zofina (she/her): An apothecary and witch in Marrowcreek, whose shop you might confuse for a house if you paid it no second glance.
Delian (he/him): A new arrival to Marrowcreek and its slaughterhouse. Staying at the midtown Hotel.
Erlin, the Tactful God of Lakes (he/him): People don't often think of "lakeness," and that's because Erlin does the thinking for you. He embodies the relaxing, if humid, depths of Sangfielle's many lakes. His temple is in the southwestern quadrant of the heartland.
The Ojan: To call it "The Ojan River" is not only to misspeak but to advertise your distance from knowledge. Ojan itself means "running water," and in Ojantani it is the word you attach to other words to mark them as rivers--each just an faint echo of this paragon of waterways.
The Jade Moon: A luxurious vessel, the Jade Moon glides up and down the Ojan. You have to work to find its exterior wooden hull, so covered is it in silken, green banners and curtains. Dining, Dancing, Gambling, Live Music, plush living. An engine that churns below. 250 feet long, 50 feet wide. It's a beast, but in the width of the Ojan--in some places over 2 miles wide--it pales.
Teak: First mate of the Jade Moon.
Organizations
The Caravan of the Coin: Cursed by Ribbadon, Frog God of Wealth, these traveling merchant-clerics never arrive at a destination carrying what they expect.
Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)
Featuring Sylvi Clare (@sylvibullet), Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry)
Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)
Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)
Text by Austin Walker
Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)
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